


Rational

by aravenwood



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Buried Alive, Cave-In, Claustrophobia, Gen, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 08:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15214808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood
Summary: Fears like his existed for a reason. People weren’t meant to go into tiny little caves, weren’t meant to ignore the warning rumble of rocks shifting and the ceiling threatening to collapse. He'd proved that now.





	Rational

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I wrote this for my Bad Things Happen Bingo card, for the prompt "buried alive". 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

Danny was a professional, and being a professional meant that he would do his job no matter what; no matter how painful a case was to him, no matter how many fears he had to face. Chasing a suspect into a dark and narrow cave was just another day at work. That was what he’d told himself as he’d squeezed through passages with jagged rocks pressing in on him, squeezing him, crushing him, choking the air from his – no. Nothing was choking him, he was only doing his job. He was doing his job and that meant that he couldn’t afford to be afraid.

He’d been an idiot to think that, he reflected now as he struggled against the rocks holding him to the floor. Fears like his existed for a reason. People weren’t meant to go into tiny little caves, weren’t meant to ignore the warning rumble of rocks shifting and the ceiling threatening to collapse. This was proof of that. This was what happened when he ignored his totally rational fears – and yes, a fear of small spaces was totally rational, Steven, and therefore it wasn’t a phobia, it was something much deeper and more powerful. Ingrained in him for a good reason.

The rocks covered most of his body, pinning him in place without the slightest chance of him being able to free himself. Even if they were smaller and looser, it would still be a struggle – he had at least a few broken ribs, probably a concussion and a few other injuries which on their own were an irritant, but combined they were downright debilitating. The worst of it was his arm, which was either broken or dislocated because he couldn’t move it no matter how hard he tried. Ever since the rocks had landed on it, it had brought with it a constant throbbing and a fear that the blood circulation was being cut off and he was going to lose it. Just like the fear of small spaces, that was a totally rational fear – he’d heard Steve talk about how something similar had happened to one of his SEAL buddies, and they’d had to amputate the whole arm to save his life.

Danny had had nightmares about that ever since hearing the story, and now it was going to come true.

He was hyperventilating at the thought. With the weight on his chest, it was already impossible to take a deep breath and the quick gasps were doing nothing but making it worse. Oh god, he couldn’t breathe, he was stuck down here and they would never find him, never be able to get to him because he’d been stupid and gone in there on his own, chased a suspect in here while Steve dealt with the other one, and they’d run in so deep that there was no way anyone would ever find him. He was going to die down here.

Trapped in a full-blown panic attack, Danny couldn’t focus. He couldn’t make himself stop and think rationally, couldn’t tell himself that of course they would find him because Steve was with them and he would never let Danny die down here on his own. He couldn’t remind himself that hyperventilating was only going to make his ribs hurt more, and that the heaving movements of his chest could disturb the rocks on him and cause himself further damage. He couldn’t think about any of this the way he had been – his fear had become a crushing weight more powerful than even the one on his chest, and it was clouding his mind, leaving him in a constant cycle of panic.

That was, until one too many heaves confirmed his fears and sent one of the larger pieces of the ceiling sliding off his chest and onto the pile on his broken arm.

He barely bit back a scream as the agony in his arm grew to a whole new level, the pain so intense that his entire vision, almost black in the darkness, whited out. The world exploded in a light so bright that it made his head hurt more than it already was. Tears soaked his cheeks as he failed to hold back his sobs. He wanted nothing more than to curl up and scream until the pain was gone, until his rescue came or until death claimed him, whichever came first.

But he couldn’t. All he could do was sob into the air, eyes squeezed tight shut, and try desperately to breathe. He’d never found it so difficult to do that, and he was suddenly reminded of a friend of a friend in high school who'd struggled with asthma attacks every time he was made to run. Was this what he’d felt like all these times? No wonder he’d always looked so scared. Danny was terrified now; he felt like he would never take a deep breath again. He would die down here, his shallow breaths not enough to sustain a body, and he would suffocate lying right in this spot, and the pain would be there right until the very end.

“-Danny? Can you hear me?”

Steve, that was Steve's voice. It was quiet, getting quieter. He was leaving. No!

“Steve!” Danny choked out. His voice came out weak and quiet, and there was no way he was going to be heard. “Steve!” he tried again, but this attempt was barely louder than the last. No, Steve was going to leave him here. He was going to leave.

“Please no, please don’t leave me here I don’t want to die here -,” Danny whispered into the air. He was sobbing again – when had he stopped? – and they were even more violent this time and the rocks were moving and he was going to be stuck here forever and -.

“Danny!”

There were hands on him, one on his cheek and the other touching his chest now and again as rocks were lifted away. Breathing became a little easier, and he couldn’t help but gasp in every bit of air he could with every inhale. His ribs protested with each one, sharp twinges that almost had him choking the air back out again, but it was slowly becoming less painful and more dull and distant, as if the pain was from a distant memory. He knew that was a bad thing, but it didn’t feel bad. It felt so good that he focused on that above all else, even the hands and the voice coming from above him.

He was successful in that until the hand started lifting rocks from his bad arm, and suddenly the pain was back at the centre of everything. This time he couldn’t hold back a scream.

The hands pulled back.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m right here buddy, it’s gonna be ok. I’m right here,” Steve said softly, and the hand on his face was back. Rough fingers stroked at his cheek, then shifted and started to run through his hair instead. They hit a sore spot and Danny hissed, and Steve pulled his hand back for a second, swore to himself then returned his hand to Danny’s cheek. He didn’t touch the rocks. “Ok, buddy, I’ve got paramedics on their way and I’ve got Chin up there to tell them where to go, so they’ll be here soon and you’ll be out of here. How're you doing?”

Danny moaned softly and forced his eyelids apart. He squinted up at Steve, whose face was covered in sweat and dust, and set in a worried frown. His eyes lit up a little when they noticed Danny watching him.

“Steve,” Danny slurred, his voice so quiet that Steve leaned closer just to hear him. “You came...”

Steve frowned. “Of course I came, what you think I was just gonna leave you down here? Of course I wasn’t, you’ve got the keys to the Camaro and I don’t want to have to hotwire it every time I want to drive it.”

“I left it to Grace,” Danny whispered.

“What?”

“Car...it's hers...”

“Come on, Danno, you’re breaking my heart here. You know I love that car, I can’t believe you’d take it away from me like that.”

“Gracie’s...” Danny repeated, too tired to come up with a real argument. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on breathing, but Steve wouldn’t let him.

“I can’t believe you, I lose my partner and you take away the one thing in the world that I -.”

“Commander McGarrett?”

Steve cut himself off and called out, “here!”

A few seconds later came the quick thumps of footsteps, and Steve was talking again. “Good, the EMTs are here, maybe they can talk some sense into you. See my partner here has decided that in the unlikely event of his death, he is going to take my – I mean, his car, away from me and give it to his daughter, who can’t drive yet and who won’t appreciate this car the way I do. Think the concussion is that bad?”

Someone snorted. “I’m glad you have your priorities in order, Commander. How’s he doing?” The EMT asked.

“Open head wound and injury to his left arm at the very least. When I found him he was mostly covered in rocks, so I’m guessing there'll be some damage to his ribs too.”

“Has he been lucid?”

“Didn’t you hear about the car? I’m guessing he’s delirious.”

The EMT chuckled. “Alright Detective Williams, my name is James and your partner and I are going to get you out of here. Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

Danny moaned weakly. “...buried alive, how do you think?” he grumbled.

“He’s claustrophobic,” Steve provided.

“’m not. It’s totally rational, claustrophobia isn’t,” Danny said with a sigh, which was quickly followed by a wince.

“That's a positive on the ribs,” Steve said.

“Don’t sorry, Detective, you’ll be out of here soon. We’re going to move these rocks, alright? But we’re going to have to take it slow to make sure there’s no injury to your spine. Can you move your toes?” James asked.

Danny tried. He'd been so afraid of losing his arm that he didn’t even consider that he could have damaged his spine. It was a tense couple of seconds as he willed his toes to move. They twitched. He let out a long sigh of relief and tried to nod, only for hands to catch his head before he could do more than shift.

“No moving around, Danno. You know the rules,” Steve warned. “Yes or no, can you move your toes?”

“Yes.”

“Good, that means you can walk out of here.”

Danny huffed out a weak laugh and his mind began to drift. He ignored any questions sent his way, ignored the increasingly urgent calls of his name in favour of resting. He hadn't realised how exhausted he was until now.

He only responded when he suddenly felt warm air on his skin. He struggled to open his eyes and when he did, he found himself looking up into a clear blue sky, the sun high in air. His joy was so powerful that he actually felt lightheaded. That didn’t matter, though. All that mattered was that he was out.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
